Conventional wireless devices are designed to work or operate in a specified frequency range or band with limited transmit power levels. Government agencies, e.g., the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), license specific bands to specific network operators. The FCC limits transmit power for each of the licensed bands to provide public safety and to reduce potential co-band and adjacent band interference levels. Therefore, each band has a limited capacity for data transmission. Moreover, licensees to a licensed band usually have an exclusive right to provide services with the band in a specified geographic area, for a defined term and within specified times. The license is exclusive in the sense that no other service providers are typically allowed to provide services in the same band, in the same area and at the same time.
Example licensed frequency bands include cellular telephony or Personal Communication Service (PCS) bands, as well as Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) bands, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) bands, and other bands, such as those supporting Third Generation (3G) wireless communications. Other licensed bands include, but are not limited to, a licensed band identified as allocated for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX).
Many wireless networks provide communication services to multiple types or generations of devices. For example, a cellular network may provide connectivity to second-generation (2G) cellular devices using, e.g., the GSM standard, 3G cellular devices using, e.g., the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) standard, or fourth-generation (4G) cellular networks using, e.g., the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Within the any particular cell of such a network, cellular devices may be operating using multiple network types or standards. Moreover, a particular cellular device may switch between network types in operation, e.g., due to a handover operation, e.g., single-radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) when leaving LTE coverage during a call but still within GSM coverage. As a result, the demand for data-transmission resources within a particular cell may change rapidly or unexpectedly over time.